Cafeteria Makes Students Sing, 'We've Been Waiting For Years'

January 20, 2010|By Akilah Johnson Staff Writer

LAUDERDALE LAKES — We've been waiting for years. And it's finally here. And Boyd Anderson will be known for the new cafeteria.

So goes the chorus of High School Cafeteria Musical, an altered version of the Disney movie put on by students in the school's International Baccalaureate film class. It's an ode to a lunchroom that has been years - some say decades - in the works.

The movie will air in May during the magnet program's annual film festival. It will also show on the new flat-screen TVs during lunch.

Students say they chose to do their take on the perky, popular film because "we wanted to bring that joy and happiness in our school because we're very happy about this cafeteria, this beautiful cafeteria."

The old lunchroom was drab, crowded and gray. Only about a quarter of the students could fit inside. The new $13 million version, which opened in November, is an airy space awash in the school colors of orange and black.

The overdue renovation has long been a sore point between the district and the community. The original lunchroom opened when the school did in the 1970s, but soon became outdated, rundown and too small for the school's more than 2,000 students.

At one point, the school had three lunch periods, with students spilling out into the courtyard or opting not to eat because they couldn't get through the line in time. Talk of redoing the cafeteria began in the late 1980s, teachers and city officials say.

Senior Alexandra Nimmons, the film's artistic director, said that while the new cafeteria has unified students, she wonders if it means the district is paying more attention to the school.

"I'm not sure whether they are beginning to care more about BA and giving us more of what we want, or if they are just tired of hearing us whine," she said.

Akilah Johnson can be reached at akjohnson@SunSentinel.com or 954-356-4527.